A Dish Served Cold
by Cathook
Summary: SG-1 go searching for a missing research team on a snowy alien planet. Once there they run into an unexpectedly familiar enemy that leaves Daniel struggling with memories as well as right and wrong. (Sequel to Snatched Memories. I suggest it is read first.)
1. A Dish Served Cold - Chapter 1

**A Dish Served Cold**

* * *

 **Summary:** SG-1 go searching for a missing research team on a snowy alien planet. Once there they run into an unexpectedly familiar enemy that leaves Daniel struggling with memories as well as right and wrong.

 **Timeline & spoilers: **This is a sequel to my story _Snatched Memories_ which is set in season seven of Stargate SG-1. No spoilers to the series, but I suggest that _Snatched Memories_ should be read before this one.

Don't forget to leave a **review**!

* * *

In some ways stepping through the Stargate was exactly like one would expect. The 'puddle', as they called the event horizon on a daily basis, looked like water and for a brief moment coming out of it felt just like surfacing from an underwater swim. The plunge took your breath away, just a little bit. The more you did it you got used to it, and Daniel felt it a lot less than he'd used to. He suspected that eventually he would be able to walk through the 'gate like Teal'c did; looking completely at ease. _I wonder how many times it takes. How many times has he stepped through the 'gate in his long life?_

He let the thoughts and questions wash over him, like sensation washed over him in the first seconds of stepping out of the 'gate. Perhaps it was getting picked apart and put together again on an atomic level that accounted for the feeling of his senses returning, even though he hadn't actually had time to notice they were gone. The transportation was instantaneous, Sam always said, or at least so close to it that the difference didn't matter. It was mindboggling to conceive that in the fraction of time it took to step through the naquada ring, his body was deconstructed to its smallest constituents, transported millions of light-years across the galaxy, and then put together again – each time without flaw or even the slightest feeling of it being done. All he had to do was step through and there he was, on another planet.

On this particular trip his senses returned with the sting of ice on his face and the smell of snow in the air. A moment ago, back in the 'gate-room under Cheyenne Mountain, he had been sweating in his heavy winter camouflage parka. Now he was glad for it because the biting chill nipped painfully on every uncovered bit of skin. He pulled up the muffler scarf over his nose and hurried to slip his hands into his thick gloves.

Beside him on the Stargate platform Sam, Jack and Teal'c were doing the same, making sure to cover everything they could against the cold. When he was done Jack plodded through the deep snow to the MALP that sat a few yards away from the platform. He pulled out four sets of snow shoes, and after putting one pair on he dug out a long rope as well before he returned to the platform. While the rest of them put on the snow shoes he tied one end of the rope to a karabiner on his belt. He measured up a few feet and tied Sam to the rope as well, continuing with Daniel and finally Teal'c so that they were all connected like a chain gang.

The rope was a safety measure. The wind was calm right now, but it could kick up without a warning and at an instant throw them into a whiteout. If, or rather when, that happened it would be too late to tie up. Before they even knew it one of them could be lost to the drifting snow. _Better safe than sorry_ , Daniel thought as he tightened the knot on his belt. He saw Jack check and ready his P90 and his hands subconsciously, almost instinctively, wandered on to mirror the colonel's movements. He wondered absently when he had learned such skills and comfortability with a weapon. He knew he hadn't had it before he joined the Stargate program and that Jack had taught him sometime in those early years of SG-1 – _but when exactly did it become so natural?_

He liked to think he hadn't abandoned his aversion to violence, but sometimes he suspected that was just something he liked to tell himself. The fact was that somewhere along the line every fiber of his body had stopped objecting to the idea that shooting their way out often was the only logical solution. He wasn't quick to it, like the military types, but the gun was not an alien thing in his hands. And that was not a very comfortable thought. He forced his mind away from it and toward the task at hand.

They'd come to P8C-374 to learn the fate of a research team stationed there to study what seemed to be a planet wrapped in an ice age. A couple of days ago the research team had missed their weekly check-in with the SGC, and after a few failed attempts to make contact from the Earth side General Hammond had decided it was time to investigate. A UAV had been sent to the planet to get some aerial images of the research station, some six miles from the 'gate. There had been no signs of an attack or disaster, and there seemed to be nothing amiss except for the fact that there was no sign of the research team either.

So here SG-1 were, trudging across the blinding white expanses with no idea what awaited them but very much determined to find out what had happened at the research station. The General hadn't ordered them to go. Someone had to, that was true, but SG-1 had actually been on their way to take some leave. It had been rough lately – though 'lately' perhaps wasn't the correct term. As the absolute first line team they had never had such a thing as an easy time. Less rough now and then maybe, but to be honest it had been some kind of degree of rough for them every since the reopening of the Stargate almost seven years ago.

They didn't mind, precisely. If they had, they would each have had opportunities to quit, or get a transfer. They'd earned it, what with the umpteen times they had saved the planet. But they didn't seize those opportunities; they just watched them go by with a little wave. It had crossed Daniel's mind to wonder if perhaps they were all a bit masochistic to stay on through it all. In the end though, it didn't come down to liking the torture. It was just worth it for the things they achieved. The planet was safe – for the umpteenth time – and the discoveries they made each day were simply mind-blowing.

Consequently when the SGC faced another threat to some of their people, SG-1 immediately volunteered to go on the search and rescue. Hammond would have preferred to send another team, an opinion he forcefully and miserably imparted on them, but there was none available that was as qualified as SG-1. They had insisted on going and assured him that they didn't really need the time off. And he had let them go; knowing that even though he was their superior there was no way he could dissuade them once they'd decided.


	2. A Dish Served Cold - Chapter 2

The hike across the snow field took the better part of the day. It was hard going, even for well trained people like the members of SG-1, and agonizingly uniform. White and more white stretched out around them in every direction and there were no sounds beside the crunch of their footfalls.

Jack estimated they were just past halfway to the research station when the snow began to fall. Tiny specs of snowflakes, formed somewhere high above in the dry cold air, danced down from the sky and the view of the vast expanses disappeared in the flurry. Then there was a gust of wind on his face that drove the hard little crystals into his skin. As expected the whiteout was on top of them before he even had time to tell the others.

"Check the rope," he shouted over the increasing wind, and felt the tugs at his waist when his teammates made sure they were all still tied together.

"Check!" called Sam.

"Check!" called Daniel.

And lastly Teal'c's strong voice declared, "We are all secured, O'Neill."

Robbed of any sense of direction by the swirling snow, Jack fished a compass out of his pocket. He had checked it regularly during the trek – it was hard enough to keep their bearings when the air was clear – but this time he didn't put it down again. The little needle pointing to the planet's magnetic north pole was the only reference he had to the world around them. It was the only thing that could make sure they kept heading east, and didn't start going around in circles until they caught their death.

They plodded on in single file, taking turns at point with the compass and the worst of the wind and the snow. Finally, and without any warning, a big dark shape appeared out of the haze. Normally Jack would have liked to approach slowly, taking time to get an overview of the site before entering, but since a couple of feet was the farthest away that they could even see the buildings that wasn't an option. Fortunately the storm that made any possible threats invisible would do exactly the same favor for SG-1. He led them along the wall until they found a door. Before they entered he ordered them to untie the safety rope and ready their weapons.

"If we're going in blind, at least we are going to be ready for anything."

The door opened to a small dark hallway. Teal'c pulled the door closed behind them and shut out the wind, and the light. It was silent inside. _Dead silent._ Jack flinched at the morbidly dry thought. He intensively hoped that death would not be what they found here.

He flicked on the little torch fixed to the side of his P90 and panned the light around. There were a couple of coats hung by the door, and warm boots in a neat row below. Down the hall there were five doors, each leading to different parts of the station. He pushed open the first one on the right and swung around the corner gun first. Empty beds gaped towards him like open mouths and eyes, unmade and messy. A pillow lay on the floor, ripped open, its feathers spread all around the room. Sam stepped past him and picked it up.

"Looks like a knife did this," she said. "Maybe someone tried to use it as defense."

They retreated back into the hallway. The door opposite to the dormitory revealed a kitchen. There were signs of struggle here too. Broken plates on the floor; obviously crashed against the walls when they had been thrown at a surprise attacker. Food scattered, perhaps from a struggle or possibly thrown as well. A steak knife lay among the shards and edibles. Its edge bore the reddish brown of dried blood.

"We need more light," Jack decided. "Carter, see if you can get the generator up and running. Daniel, Teal'c, pick a door and let's finish this search."

* * *

Sam headed back outside. The whiteout was still going strong, but if she stuck close to the wall she would be fine on her own. The station was a modular build so she knew the layout. The generator would be housed in a separate building that also served as a garage for the snowmobiles the researchers used in the day to day transport between the station and the test sites. It wouldn't be far, and the two structures should be connected by a strong wire running from wall to wall – all for precisely a moment like this, so one could find the generator and fix it if it went offline in the middle of a storm. In a whiteout even the few steps between buildings could be enough to get lost, and if you were lost you were dead.

She reached the corner of the building and found the wire, and hooked herself to it with the karabiner on her belt. She took three steps away from the wall and the building behind her disappeared into the whirl, and for a dozen more steps she was lost in a seeming tornado of snowflakes. Then the garage faded into view.

The door was stuck, pinned closed by a drift of snow. She kicked and dug, and finally managed to get it open far enough to slip inside. It was even darker in here than it had been in the main building. The garage had no windows at all to let in even the sparse daylight that penetrated the storm. She flicked on her torch and easily found the station's power source, which turned out to be a naquada generator. She was more than familiar with its workings – she had been the one to develop the very first one. However, it would have been quite easy for almost anybody to find the flaw with this particular machine. It had simply been turned off. She twisted the control back to the on position and saw the generator light up. A moment later a fluorescent light flickered to life above her head and she could turn off her torch.


	3. A Dish Served Cold - Chapter 3

Of the three unexplored doors Daniel had chosen the one in the middle, at the end of the hallway. Beyond he found the research lab. The lab was the biggest area of the station, by itself using more than half of the building. After all, the sole purpose of the station was to conduct research so everything else pretty much played second fiddle.

Along the walls to his left and right stood rows of huge freezers that no doubt held a multitude of core samples from the ice and other frozen samples collected from this frigid planet. Two glass walls separated off a sterile area for testing, and in the fourth corner there was a hub of computers and a radio. If the power had been on the screens would probably have been displaying meteorological data from sensors set up around the station, but in lack of electricity the screens were dark and the processors silent. The whole room was silent, like the whole station. It made his skin crawl. And then a sound almost made him jump right out of it.

It wasn't much of a sound, just a soft moan from behind an island of low cabinets in the middle of the room. He flicked off the safety on his gun and carefully moved along the wall until he could see behind them.

The first thing he saw was a foot in a winter boot. For some reason he noticed it was of a different brand than the ones out in the hall. The foot belonged to a man lying on his back on the floor. There was blood around him, most of it dried but some fresh and glistening in the light of the torch. Scattered beside him were the innards of a medical kit. His head rested on a bundled up jacket and his hands lay on his chest, holding on hard to compresses that were tainted deep red with blood.

Another moan escaped the man and Daniel pointed the flashlight at his face. Feverish eyes blinked against the sharp light and the man's lips moved, but the voice they emitted was weak and cracked. Daniel couldn't make out the words.

"It's alright." He lowered his weapon to a less threatening position and knelt down beside the man with a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, we're here to help."

He pressed a button on his radio and drew a breath. In the ceiling a row of fluorescent lights blinked a few times and came on. His eyes stayed on the wounded man's face and he hesitated. He recognized this man, but not from the images of the research team he had memorized before the mission. For a moment he floundered for the memory. Then it hit him, like a strike of lightning.

"I remember you!"

The words came out in a chocked breath, and he pulled his hand back as if he'd burned it. He sat on his haunches, stunned by being face to face with this man who he hadn't thought he'd ever see again. Who he'd hoped he'd never see again. In fact he had done pretty much everything he could not to even think of this man. He'd occupied his mind with work and more work, making sure not to have time to dwell on the memories. It hadn't been hard; there had been a lot of things going on, as there always was. Missions to go on, crises to handle, and losses to mourn. He had plenty to use as cover when the memories – or lack thereof – snuck up on him. Plenty of reasons to forget about this man.

But here he was, this _'doctor'_ turned kidnapper. The title tasted foully even in Daniel's mind. The man didn't deserve such a title after what he'd done. Daniel recalled a little, most of the details were fuzzy, but what really bothered him was the day-long gap in his memory that was simply blank. From the point when the doctor-kidnapper had strapped him down in his torture chamber to the moment the rest of the team had appeared to rescue him there was nothing. Not even a shadow of a memory to dig after and try to remember. He had nothing but the aftereffects of what they had done to him, and they were torture in their own right – painful echoes wrapped in shivering withdrawal from the drugs.

Janet – who was so much more of a real doctor – had been able to piece some of it together for him. The blood test had shown traces of several drugs, and it had offered some explanations to the things he felt in the days following his ordeal. Still, knowing wasn't remembering and the blank space in his mind was as agonizingly clear to him as the year he'd lost when he had been ascended. It grated at him the same way, though he wouldn't admit to either one aloud. It bugged him that no matter how he tried there seemed to be nothing there to find. Just a metaphorical hole in his head that only got bigger the more he stared at it and thought of it. Consequently he tried his best not to think of it, and he had been rather successful – until now.

Now he could do nothing but think of the abduction. He remembered the smell of the dark and dank cell they'd kept him in and he remembered the face of the 'doctor' as he prepared to torture him. And at once he wondered how long it would take for his teammates to recognize the man, and what they would do when they did. _Jack will be furious, and vindictive, triumphant._ He wondered whether he would have any time for getting answers, or just revenge.

Daniel couldn't quite honestly say he was entirely against the concept of revenge, but he was far more interested in knowing for sure what had been done to him in that time he couldn't remember. _What exactly left me feeling like I'd taken a beating? And why in all the universe was I pumped chockfull of amphetamine?_ He turned off his radio and leaned into the feverish face in front of him.

"Do you remember me?"

The man's eyes flickered, unfocused and unrecognizing. There was no telling if he even comprehended the question. Daniel sighed. It appeared he would have to get the 'doctor' some medical help before he could hope to get anything out of him. He pressed the transmitting button on his radio again and spoke into it.

* * *

Jack had gone through the left door, the one next to the kitchen, and ended up in the rec room. There was a half finished game of chess on one of the tables and on the next an almost finished jigsaw puzzle. All seemed calm and undisturbed. There had been no fight in here.

His radio clicked and he paused to hear one of his teammates speak, but there was only static on the line. He shrugged and stepped around the tables to take a look around the rest of the room. There wasn't much, just a bookshelf full of games along one wall and a small liquor cabinet.

As he was eyeing the stock of spirits electricity flooded into the research station, waking a stereo from its slumber along with the lights in the ceiling. The sudden blare of music spun him around with the gun raised and he barely managed to stay his finger from putting a bullet in the loudspeaker. He muttered a curse under his breath and stomped over to the stereo to turn it off.

Another click sounded on the radio and this time it was followed by Daniel's voice.

"Sam, can you come to the lab? I found something…someone. He's wounded."

Jack spun around slowly and scanned the room with his eyes once more. He decided there were no clues to be found in here. Then he went to see what Daniel had found. Teal'c met him in the hallway and they walked side by side into the lab.

"Anything?" Jack asked.

"The sanitary facilities are empty. There appears to have been a struggle in the shower but I do not believe anyone was harmed."

At the sound of their voices Daniel appeared from behind some cabinets in the middle of the lab. A frown sat firmly on his face, and it deepened when he saw them. Jack countered with a wide grin.

"You found someone alive, I heard?"

"Ehm…Yeah…He's been stabbed, I think."

There was a strange tone in Daniel's voice that made Jack take a closer look at him. On second thought the frown on his face was odd too. At first he had thought it was a sign of concern for the wounded man, but there was actually no concern in Daniel's eyes. There was something else there however – _anger? fear? disgust?!_ There was no blood on him either and the P90 was still in his hands. It looked like he hadn't even tried to help the wounded man. Everything about him suddenly seemed strange.

Jack moved around the cabinets and took a gander at the man lying on the floor. There was a lot of blood and the man's hands clung to dirtied bandages on his chest. He barely looked alive, which only made Daniel's behavior the more odd. He stood stone still next to the man, looking completely unmoved by his pain.

Stomping feet in the hallway announced Sam coming in from the blizzard. She burst into the lab, her mind in full first aid mode, and pulled up short at the unease in the room.

"Sir?"

Jack met her querying eyes and made an involuntary grimace. Quickly schooling his features he nodded her toward the patient.

* * *

The sterile room became a makeshift infirmary. Jack and Teal'c carried the wounded man in and lay him down on the table. They were as careful as they possibly could, but the soft jostling still stole away his tenuous grip on consciousness. Sam figured it was just as well, and took the opportunity to examine him more thoroughly.

She folded away his hands and removed the bloodied bandages. With a tissue soaked in antiseptic solution she gently cleaned off the blood surrounding the wound. It was a deep gash, about three or four inches long. Daniel had called it right, guessing it was a knife wound, and it had the potential of being a nasty one at that. If it had gone untreated the man would surely had died. However, someone had pulled the edges together with a surprisingly neat row of surgical stitches and wrapped the wound tightly enough to stem most of the bleeding.

"A doctor sewed this," she noted to herself as she proceeded to take a closer look, checking for discoloration and other signs of infection. She found neither, and as a matter of fact the wound was already on its way to heal. The man would get a scar, but whoever had sewed him up had probably saved his life. Which only prompted the question: _why was he left behind?_

Pondering that conundrum she wrapped a clean bandage around her patient's torso, and set up an IV-kit that Teal'c had found for her. The saline solution would provide the man with some much needed fluids to replace the lost blood carpeting the floor of the lab. Later, when he woke up, she would try to get him to take some solid food. _And perhaps then we can have some answers about what happened here._

While Sam worked Daniel stood on the other side of the partition wall, watching. Jack stood beside him, watching him. The odd frown was still on his face, and Jack still couldn't pin down which feelings were causing it.

In actuality Daniel wasn't entirely sure himself what he felt, and even less how to deal with it. Mainly he detected a disturbingly significant amount of satisfaction at the sight on the other side of the glass. The man looked helpless where he lay. Helpless and pitiful. But Daniel found he couldn't muster any pity. _It serves him right,_ said a small but irritatingly incessant voice in his head. The sight of his torturer in pain made him, in lack of a better word, glad, and he didn't like the immediacy of that response. He knew without self-righteousness that he wasn't usually the kind to hold a grudge, not like this.

Daniel's frown deepened and beside him Jack was quickly developing one to match. Usually he could read his friend like an open book. Somehow they'd always been that way, with no need for words to understand each other. They'd been through enough together, shared life's ups and downs and seen the best and worst of each other, both with and without the help of alien influence. They both had secrets of course. Things they didn't tell each other. Thoughts they never said aloud. But Jack had never seen Daniel like this – with a face full of feelings he couldn't define and no doubt a head full of thoughts he for once couldn't guess.

And as if that wasn't enough there was the way he was hanging on to his P90; like a drowning man clinging to a life preserver. After concluding that beside the wounded man the research station was indeed empty, the rest of them had put their guns down. But Daniel held on to his as if there was a danger here that only he could see. As if the man on the other side of the glass could actually pose a threat.

Jack cleared his throat, attempting to get Daniel's attention. To snap him out of his fixed stare.

"Hey, Daniel, what's up?"

He made no sign of having heard. His eyes didn't waver and the frown was beginning to look like it had come to stay. Jack raised his voice a little.

"Hey! Daniel!"

Finally he turned, blinking like he'd just woken up from a dream. _A bad dream._

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

Daniel looked at him for a long moment, then he returned to staring through the glass.

"Nothing," he said in a voice that contradicted the word in every possible way.

With a sigh Jack accepted the lie, but he kept watching him while Sam finished tending the wounded man. Then he ordered the whole team to bed for the night.


	4. A Dish Served Cold - Chapter 4

Daniel closed his eyes and willed his breath to slow, pretending he was asleep. He listened intensively for the sounds of his teammates.

They had bunked down in the dormitory, all four taking the chance for some shuteye since the storm showed no signs of stilling. Sam had made sure her patient was stable, and rigged a couple of radios like a baby monitor that she brought with her to bed. She'd fallen asleep promptly, and Daniel could hear her deep calm breaths. A soft snore came from Jack's bed and he smiled. Of course Jack was sleeping. He'd probably fallen asleep before his head even hit the pillow. The unsure card was Teal'c. He did sleep nowadays, instead of the Kelno'reem he no longer needed. However, Daniel knew he still struggled with the concept of sleep and often stayed awake long into the nights.

He strained his ears and held his breath, but he couldn't tell for sure whether Teal'c was awake or not. He pressed a button on his wristwatch and the numbers lit up with a faint green glow. _Three AM._ He couldn't wait any longer. He'd just have to hope Teal'c wasn't awake.

Carefully he folded away the covers and swung his feet down to the floor. It was cold against his soles, but he didn't stop to put on his boots. It would just add a risky amount of noise to his night excursion. As silently as he could manage he padded to the door, intently listening all the way. Sam was still breathing deep and calm, and Jack made irregular soft snores. And Teal'c…

"Are you unable to sleep, DanielJackson?"

He bit down a curse.

"Just going to the bathroom," he whispered and giving no space for further conversation, he opened the door and slipped out.

The hallway was dimly lit by a single lamp above the bathroom door and spookily silent. He ignored the goose bumps rising on his skin and pushed the door to the lab open. It was dark in there too, with only a small nigh lamp on in the sterile room. It's light was enough to guide him to the glass wall. He pulled the door handle and the door slid open with a soft hiss from the air tight seal.

The 'doctor' – he still couldn't think the word sincerely – was fast asleep, looking innocent in his slumber. Daniel let out a snort of disdain. _Innocent, my ass!_ His hands curled up into tight fist, a subconscious attempt to suppress the anger rising in him like magma in a volcano. Rage was not the way to get what he wanted.

He picked up the radio that stood beside the bed and turned it off. With gentleness in stark contrast to the red hot feelings churning inside him he shook the man's shoulder. His eyelids fluttered and he let out a moan. Daniel shook him a little harder and this time his eyes popped open. They were still glazed with fever, but they quickly found their focus on Daniel's face.

Daniel held his gaze. All of a sudden his heart leapt to racing in his chest. For a moment he couldn't breathe, his head swimming with cloudy memories. He swallowed hard.

"Do you remember me?" he asked.

The man nodded.

"Dr. Jackson."

His voice was thick with pain and drowsiness, but it still made Daniel's skin crawl. He remembered that voice. He remembered it calmly telling him how the drug he administered would steal away his memories. He remembered all too well – especially in the dark of night.

"I remember you too," he said and received a look of surprise in return.

"You do?"

"I take it I wasn't supposed to. But I do. And I have questions." He tried to imbue the words with implications of what might happen if he didn't get answers. _I'm really not that good at this_. "Most pressingly, what are you doing here?"

The man didn't respond.

 _Alright, let's try a different angle_. "What's your name?"

The man seemed to hesitate, before deciding that relieving his name couldn't do any harm.

"Joseph."

Someone who knew Daniel a little better might have felt inclined to inform the not so good doctor of his miscalculation. Daniel himself however had no such intention.

"Well, Joseph. It is ... _nice_ to see you again. Now what we're friends, why don't you tell me why you're here?"

Joseph smiled, an instinctual grin that turned into a smug smirk as he continued to say nothing.

"Perhaps you don't understand," Daniel said in a mock helpful tone. "The tables are turned. You are not in control this time. _I_ am."

"And what are you going to do? Lecture me? Ha! I've told you before - I know a great deal of things about you, Dr Jackson. You are a scholar, a 'peaceful explorer'." Daniel's trademark greeting rolled off of Joseph's tongue drenched in ridicule. "There's nothing you can do to make me talk - or at least nothing you will do."

Daniel returned his smile with a false grin of his own. He reached out his hand and laid it on Joseph's stomach.

"I don't think you know me as well as you think you do. I may be a scholar by trade, and peaceful at heart, but experience has taught me a lot of things."

The smile froze on Joseph's face. His features twitched with an expression of disbelief, then in an instant turned to pain as Daniel applied a bit of pressure.

"Now," Daniel said, lifting his hand away. "Why are you here?"

"I had a plan. A rather brilliant one actually." He breathed fast and the words came out in gusts of breath, but somehow he still managed to sound conceited. Daniel scowled with annoyance.

"It doesn't appear to have played out the way you intended."

"Actually, most of it did. The plan was to get you here and that worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, but now you're our prisoner and not the other way around."

The smug smile returned to Joseph's lips.

"That may so, but my associates have your research team. Where did you think they were?"

Daniel floundered for a reply, and opted for contradiction.

"Your 'associates' don't know you're alive. They left you for dead here."

"They know, Dr. Jackson. Trust me, they know. And if you want your researchers to come out of this alive you're going to have to let me go – and come with me."

A nervous laugh forced its way up Daniel's throat. The very thought of going anywhere with this man made him sick to his stomach.

"Sure, 'Dr. Mengele'. I'll go with you and you can do…whatever you did, to me again?! I don't think so."

"Oh." Joseph gleamed with glee. "You don't actually remember that much, do you?"

The sound of delight in his voice grated at Daniel's already raw nerves. Clenching his jaw he did his best not to let the fear and anger show on his face, nut his biggest concern was that the conversation was beginning to slip out of his hands. He needed to take back control.

"I may not remember, but you are going to tell me all about it," he demanded.

Joseph made a mock of deliberating. Then he shook his head.

"I don't think so."

"Think _again_!"

Daniel slammed his hand down on his abdomen, hard. The pain made Joseph cry out and Daniel hurriedly put his other hand over his mouth. The seconds dragged out, but no one came running. No one had heard. A malicious smirk snaked its way onto Daniel's lips.

"What do you think now?"


	5. A Dish Served Cold - Chapter 5

Jack woke early the third morning, with an uneasy feeling fluttering in his chest. He lay in his bunk and blinked against the faint light sifting in through the snow-covered window. At first he couldn't place how this morning was different from the last one, then he realized it was silent. The howl of the wind around the buildings had been there since they arrived and now that it was gone something almost seemed wrong. The lack of sound was almost physical, and quite unnerving until he figured out what it was – or wasn't.

"The storm has broken."

The comment came from Teal'c who sat on top of his crumpled sheets, his legs folded in the Kelno'reem position. Jack's eyes wandered on to check on the rest of the team. Sam was still sleeping, only her mop of blonde hair visible over the cover. On Daniel's bunk however, the covers were thrown back and the owner nowhere to be seen.

"DanielJackson has not slept," Teal'c informed him with his steady matter a fact voice.

"Where is he?"

"He is with the wounded man. They have spoken at length each night. I believe they have unfinished business."

Annoyance drew a frown on Jack's face.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"It appears that secrecy is important to DanielJackson in this matter."

There was no apologize in Teal'c's voice. Jack huffed and glared at him while he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and started pulling his boots on. _You think you've gotten to know a guy._ Sometimes it was gallingly obvious that Teal'c had been brought up on a different set of values.

Having tied the laces Jack stomped out into the hallway. After a couple of steadying breaths he carefully pushed the lab door open and slunk inside. Daniel was in the sterile room, just as Teal'c had said. He stood next to the makeshift sickbed with his back towards Jack. It didn't appear he had heard him enter. _Right, the glass is sound proofed._

Jack paused, watching the two men on the other side of the glass. _It's entirely possible there's nothing to worry about_ , he told himself. The conversation reached him as muffled murmurs. He couldn't make out any words, but Daniel must have asked the wounded man a question. Jack saw him shake his head. Daniel's shoulders stiffened and then slumped in a sigh. He moved his left hand, which was somewhere in front of him. The other man's eyes went wide and he let out a cry that Jack heard even through the glass.

He stared in disbelief as Daniel put his weight on his hand and leaned over the wounded man. When he turned his head a little Jack could see his face. It held an expression that was fierce and full of those emotions he couldn't quite indentify.

Another outcry from the wounded man spurred him into action and within a second he was through the door. Daniel spun around at the hissing sound of it opening and for the first time on this planet his expression was crystal clear. Jack read anger and shame, in the particular combination that comes from being caught and knowing you'll be stopped. Unasked Jack's eyes went to his left hand that hung midair, momentarily forgotten by its owner. A drop of crimson blood slowly formed on a fingertip and fell. Time seemed to grind to a halt. The breath caught in Jack's throat and his heart felt like it was refusing to beat. For a drawn out fraction of a second he saw nothing but the drop, glistening in the muted light. Then it hit the floor with a splash and the rest of the world came rushing back.

His eyes snapped up to Daniel's eyes, still staring at him with that mix of guilt and anger. He crossed the two steps between them and grabbed his hand, not caring that he was rough as he turned it over. The palm was red and sticky. He didn't know why he'd expected anything else. _Hope is vain._ The thought flitted through his mind as he turned his gaze to the wounded man. The bandage on his stomach was soaked through, and it was evident that Daniel had not been trying to stem the bleeding.

He whipped his head around to fix Daniel with a stare, tightening the grip on his wrist. His chest bubbled with unidentified feelings and his head was full of things he wanted to say. Things he wanted to ask. Brown and blue eyes met and the words caught in his throat. The innocent shade didn't match the look in Daniel's eyes as they filled with the feelings that had eluded Jack this far. Finally he could label them and at once he wished for blissful ignorance.

The lightning blue shot sparks of anger and determination, but the scary thing was what he didn't find there. No compassion and no doubt as to what he was doing were right or wrong. That look should not be in his friend's eyes; his friend who argued for the rights of his enemies. Jack could feel his own eyes begging, pleading that this was all a bad dream.

"Let go." The demand came in a voice low as a growl.

Jack shook his head.

"What are you doing, Daniel?"

At this, finally, Daniel's gaze flickered. It was just a moment, and if Jack had blinked he might have missed it, but it filled him with hope. For a fraction of a second Daniel seemed to see what he saw and an ounce of doubt crept onto his face. Jack took another step closer and softened his voice.

"What are you doing, Daniel?"

The blue eyes fell away, the anger melting into a pout. Jack let the silence draw out. Sooner or later Daniel would feel the need to fill it. And once he got started the truth would come out, like an avalanche picking up speed down a slope.

"We were just talking," Daniel muttered, sounding like a cranky kid. Jack gently gripped his chin and turned his face up.

"We both know that wasn't just talking. What's going on between you two?"

Daniel tried to pull away, but Jack held him firmly with his hands and his eyes.

"Talk to me," he half urged, half pleaded.

Different emotions chased each other over Daniel's face like clouds across the sky. He worked his jaw, as if chewing on words he didn't want to say. He shrugged defiantly.

"I want answers and he won't give them to me."

"So you thought you'd torture him?" Jack couldn't stop his voice from rising accusingly. Daniel glared at him, his breathing quickening from boiling emotions.

"It's nowhere near what he did!" he blurted out.

Jack repressed a smirk. The snow drift was on its way. He decided to prod it a final time.

"What he did?" he asked, and before Daniel knew it he was spouting all the things he had meant to keep secret.

"He tortured me worse. He's the doctor who kidnapped me and he is going to tell me every detail of what he did to me."

Jack stared from Daniel to the wounded man on the table. All of a sudden Daniel's behavior made sense. Well, some kind of sense. There were still questions that needed answers.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know what you would do. I need answers."

The answer lodged a tiny barb in Jack's heart. He tried to hide it, but he couldn't help feeling a little hurt that Daniel hadn't trusted him enough to tell him what was going on.

"You didn't think I would understand? That I wouldn't help you get your answers?"

Daniel made a face and wrenched his chin free to look away. He scraped his bare foot on the floor, reinforcing his likeness to a petulant kid. _At least he doesn't look like a hardened torturer anymore._ Jack decided to give him a break and gently pulled him over to the sink. He was encouraged when Daniel let him rinse the blood off his hand and didn't pull away when he let him go.

He stepped back to the wounded man and took a better look at his bandages. They needed changing. He picked up the radio from the table and turned it on.

"Carter, are you awake?"

There was a moment of static, and then her drowsy voice sounded in the glass room.

"Sir, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me. You need to take a look at your patient. He's bleeding again."

He could hear her mutter as she pulled herself out of bed and into her clothing. She'd had quite a job taking care of the wounded man, more than she had expected. She had said he was already on the mend when they found him, but then after the first night he'd gotten worse. Over the next day he got better, only to get worse over night again. His yoyo health had been a mystery that stumped them all, and the only one who hadn't been invested in solving it was Daniel. _I guess I know why now._

Sam appeared through the lab door, her hair a tousled mess from sleeping. It wasn't a bad look for her, Jack noted before he could stop himself. While she got to work he turned his attention back to Daniel who was still standing by the sink where he'd left him. He grabbed him by the elbow and led him out of the room.

They sat down in the rec room. Jack had intended a conversation, but Daniel stubbornly refused to say anything to his questions. He just sat slumped in his chair and stared at the table. In the end Jack ended up just staring too. _I'm not good at this talking stuff._ He lifted his eyes and spotted the chess game sitting at the other end of the table. He pulled it over and set the pieces up. Then he made the first move with a white pawn.

"Your turn."

Daniel's eyes rose slowly to the game. Then he reached a hand out and moved a black pawn. Jack smiled.

* * *

Later that day they were all gathered in the lab. After a lot of coaxing Jack had managed to persuade Daniel to tell the others what was going on. It made for an awkward team talk, but finally they were all caught up with as much as he was willing to share.

They sat in a slightly more comfortable silence when a voice erupted from the station's radio. It was a little too loud and distorted by interference, but it was definitely a voice. Sam rushed to the machine and pulled the volume down. Then she carefully turned the tuning knob. The voice became clear just in time.

"I repeat: We hold four of your people hostage. Give us Joseph Benton and Daniel Jackson or we will kill them. You have four hours to respond. Over and out."

"Should I respond, sir?" Sam's hand hovered above the controls.

"Not yet. We need more intel and they did give us a little time. Is there any way to trace the signal? Find out where they're hiding?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll do my best."

"Good!" He turned to Daniel. "How do they know we've got their man? How come they don't think he's dead?"

Daniel shrugged. "I don't know. He claimed they'd know, but I didn't believe him. Then we…talked about other things." The last words came out in an embarrassed mumble. Jack granted him respite by ignoring it.

"Do you think he's got some way of communicating with them?"

"No. I don't think so. Perhaps he's got some kind of bio monitor that lets them know he's alive. They must have just deduced the rest."

"Okay. Carter, how's it coming?"

She replied without turning, her fingers still dancing across the keyboard as she spoke.

"The computers here actually have a signal-tracking software. They use it if someone gets lost in a snowstorm. The software registered the incoming signal, but the results are a little odd. The origin of the signal kept jumping around during the transmission"

Jack's spirits took a nosedive into bad, rapidly heading for worst, suspicion.

"So, the software failed and we still don't know where they are."

"No sir – and yes."

"Huh? That was more confusing than your usual techno babble."

Sam flashed a smile over her shoulder.

"Sir, it is true we can't pinpoint their location, but it wasn't a malfunction that made the signal jump around. There's nothing wrong with the software, except that it couldn't keep up with the moving signal."

"Moving signal?"

"Yeah, I think they're in a vehicle of some kind, moving around to keep us from tracking them. And I bet you can guess what they're driving."

Finally Jack was catching on. Despite himself a proud grin spread on his face.

"A ship! Where would they have gotten a hold of that?"

"I don't know, sir, but it's the only thing that makes sense. In a cloaked ship they could hide pretty much anywhere. They'd have transportation on and off the planet and protection from the elements."

Jack sighed and raked his fingers through his hair, his eyes averting towards the ceiling. _This could be a problem._ They may have figured the hostage takers out, but they were no closer to catching them.

"Sir?"

He lowered his gaze to meet Sam's eyes again. Her beautiful blue orbs were not nearly as despondent as he felt.

"I have an idea," she said. "If they are using a ship, all we need to do is ground it. Disable it without hurting the hostages."

"And I suppose you have an idea on how to do that?" An ounce of hope crept into Jack's voice, though it still held a generous dash of fearful suspicion she might say no. Sam's grin widened. She liked the times she could easily make him happy.

"I have an idea. I'm gonna need some time though, to put it together. And we're gonna have to cannibalize some of the station's equipment for parts. But I think we can build an EMP powerful enough to put a ship out of commission."

"An electromagnetic pulse? And that'll work on a goa'uld ship?"

She hesitated.

"I think so. I mean, I'm pretty sure it will."

"How sure?"

"Ehm…maybe ninety-five percent." She bit her lip in that way that if the situation wasn't so serious he would have found irresistibly cute. _Good thing the situation is so serious._

"Ninety-five? That's better odds than we usually have." Jack glanced at his watch. "It's time to call them back. I'll buy you as much time as I can."


	6. A Dish Served Cold - Chapter 6

"The shielding should protect the transmitter from the EMP," Sam explained and placed a little foil packet in Daniel's hand. "Turn the beacon on after you set the EMP off and we'll be able to find you. Before then it should be undetectable. Are you clear on how to set the EMP off?"

Daniel nodded grimly. He looked miserable, so Sam figured it wouldn't hurt with a repetition. Perhaps it would scatter his thoughts a little. She pointed on the device in his other hand.

"Just hold this button down to arm it. It'll take a few seconds for the charge to build up but then all you have to do is push the trigger to release. Make sure the ship is close to the ground before you activate it or you're going to have a crash on your hands instead. And that kind of defeats the purpose, huh?"

He nodded along through the explanation, but didn't laugh at her sorry excuse for a joke. He fingered the scrappy-looking gadget.

"Are you sure this will work on goa'uld technology?"

"I've factored in everything I know of their drive systems and tuned the…" She hesitated. He didn't look like he was up for the geek-speak version. She gently grabbed his hands. "Yes, Daniel, it will work."

"Okay, Danny! Time to go."

Jack's call prompted an involuntary flinch from Daniel. With visibly reluctant movements he started buttoning up his parka, tucking the EMP device out of sight, and walked out into the hallway. Joseph was already outside, bedded down on a sled that Daniel was going to pull. The hostage holders wouldn't let him use a snowmobile.

Jack and Teal'c stepped away from the door, turning into some kind of sentinels at either side of it. Daniel grabbed the door handle and hesitated. He looked to his left, his eyes connecting with Jack's. His gaze was half pleading, half guilty.

"Jack…I don't want to do this."

He sounded small and scared, like a child pushed to early into the world. It sat as comfortably in Jack's heart as a knife, especially since he was the one stuck doing the pushing. _I'll hate myself for this – but what is one more nightmare._ He pushed the guilt down into oblivion and forced his face to look reassuring and confident.

"There's no other way, but don't worry. This'll work." He patted the device hidden under Daniel's parka. "They're not getting away with you this time, okay?"

Daniel nodded, and even though he didn't look entirely convinced he pulled the scarf up over his face and stepped outside.

* * *

The sled glided easily over the snow and Joseph seemed to rest comfortably. It annoyed Daniel a little, but less than he would have expected. _Maybe Jack's right and I've acted a bit crazy._ He let the thought sit where it landed; slowly eating a hole in the determination for revenge he had built up. It wasn't comfortable and it left an awful sense of guilt, but he reckoned he deserved that.

He trudged on and the buildings began to fade into the distance behind him. Now and then he fished the compass out of his pocket. He was doing pretty well holding his course, though he suspected it didn't matter much if their assumptions were correct.

After readjusting his grip on the sled he kept walking. If it had been anyone else on it he might have asked the passenger how he was faring, but the words of concern wouldn't come. _Apparently I'm not that much better yet._ Joseph didn't speak either, and their silence seeped into the silence of the ice like a drop of water mingled into the ocean. Daniel trudged on.

A small sound interrupted the stillness. In a noisier place Daniel might have missed it, but in this frozen wasteland he heard it clear as day. It was a low hum, barely more than a buzz, descending on them from the clear sky. He looked up and saw the sky ripple. He barely had time to recognize the effect of a cloaked goa'uld ship, before the bright glow of the transport rings swept him and the sled up into the sky.

For a moment his heart raced with panic. He forced himself to breathe. To pull off his part of the plan he had to stay in control of himself. _And if my part fails…_ He mentally shook himself – _Get a grip!_ – and pulled the protective clothing away from his face to look around.

The rings had deposited them in a small cargo bay. The look of it was enough for him to identify the ship as the small cargo carrying model called a tel'tak. The door to the cockpit was closed, as was the one leading to the engine room at the rear of the ship. Crates were stacked along the walls, some of earth model and some of clearly alien origin. In the space between two high stacks of crates sat three men and a woman, who Daniel immediately recognized as the research team. Their hands and feet were bound with zip ties and they were all gagged. Their eyes shone eagerly towards him.

He set the sled down and hurried over to them, and pulled the gags down.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he yanked on their plastic bonds.

A click behind his back made him freeze. _I really wish I didn't know what that sound was._

"That's enough, Dr. Jackson. On your feet. Keep your hands where I can see them."

Daniel rose slowly, unable to stop a mix of emotions from rising on his face with regret in chief position. He gave the researchers an apologetic grimace but schooled his features before turning around. He hoped dearly his guilty eyes wouldn't give away what he had brought aboard before he had a chance to use it. _I should have activated it as soon as we were on board._

The man standing in front of him was tall and slender, dressed in a black t-shirt and khaki cargo pants. He held a hand gun with the ease and sureness of rigorous military training.

"Carlton!" he called over his shoulder and another man appeared from the cockpit. "Check the ties. And then secure Dr. Jackson."

The man named Carlton knelt down and tightened the bonds on the researchers. Then he grabbed a couple of zip ties from an open crate and approached Daniel. Instinctively he wanted to move away but the pistol barrel trained on him with a probably trigger happy finger behind it halted him. Trying to control the panic rising again he let his hands be tied and sat down when ordered to.

Skinny ordered Carlton to take care of the wounded doctor and they disappeared into the cockpit while Skinny zipped Daniel's legs together.

"So, here we are." Daniel tried to sound nonchalant, but he could hear his voice tremble. He carried on anyway, disregarding the desperate tone in his voice. "You promised to let the others go if I came."

Skinny grinned evilly.

"We will. But I am supposing you don't want us to drop them off in the middle of nowhere. They would freeze to death before your team could find them."

He stood up and holstered his gun.

"We'll put them somewhere safe and give your colonel instructions. And while they are busy fetching we'll be leaving the planet. Before they can move on to rescue you we will be long gone."


	7. A Dish Served Cold - Chapter 7

Jack paced in a circle around the cabinet island in the lab. They'd been waiting for hours it seemed, even if Jack's watch claimed it had only been a little over one. They had no idea how far Daniel would have to walk, so they didn't know when to expect the transmitter's locating beacon to pop up on their screen. The hostage holders had just said for him to head south, and they'd assumed that he'd be picked up by the ship somewhere along the way.

Teal'c was at the radio, in case they called, and Sam was seated at the computer, her eyes never wavering as they searched for the little blip that would indicate that Daniel had activated the transmitter. They were all dressed in their warm outer wear. The snowmobiles were lined up outside, gassed up and ready to be off as soon as the blip appeared.

Jack turned the cabinet corner and glanced at his watch. Two more minutes had passed in what seemed like an eternity. One, two, three steps brought him to the next corner. The tense silence pressed on him, making his nerves tingle. He didn't like waiting. He vastly preferred action. It was less nerve-racking.

A crackling from the radio made him jump. Teal'c tuned in the transmission.

"…calling colonel O'Neill. Come in. Colonel O'Neill, come in. Over."

Jack dove at the microphone and replied tersely.

"O'Neill here. What do you want?"

"Just to tell you that we received your package and we're preparing yours for pickup. You'll forgive us if we don't deliver to the door, but…we don't trust you. Do you have a pen to write down the directions? "

The man rattled off a long row of instructions on how to find the researches in an old ruin, plus an estimated deadline before they would freeze to death in the poor shelter.

"I know you were probably harboring some hopes of rescuing Dr. Jackson as well, but I don't think you'll have the time. Over and out."

The radio went silent and left the three in the lab to mull over the implications of the hostage holder's setup. It was obviously designed to make sure they could only save Daniel or the researchers.

The choice looming up before him made Jack's stomach turn. He was the CO so it came down to him to decide the course of action. He knew what he should do. The math was simple; four lives were more important than one. He even knew what Daniel would want him to do. He was the king of self-sacrifice, and he would never be able to live with himself if Jack let the researchers die in order to rescue him. But then there was the look Daniel had had before he walked out the door. The pleading in his eyes. His small voice when he admitted to not wanting to go. On top of that he remembered the shape Daniel had been in when they rescued him from the same kidnappers he had now sent him back to. _I promised him they wouldn't get away with him this time. But how can I save him?_

"Sir?" Sam's voice broke through his thoughts. "There is a chance that Daniel's just waiting for the right moment to activate the EMP."

He met her eyes and read hopefulness in them. He drank it up, piggybacking on her optimism, and nodded.

"Right. We'll proceed according to the instructions. There are four researchers counting on us to save them. With any luck Daniel will get an opportunity to take down the ship, and then we go after him."

Making a decision usually made Jack feel better, since it meant he could move on to action, but he had no such luck this time. It was true that there was a chance Daniel could still fire off the EMP, but there also was a chance it had been taken away from him and that he was already being taken out of Jack's reach. He saw the path his thoughts were leading him down and forced them away from it. If Daniel was to have any chance he couldn't bury himself in worry. He had to act.

They loaded four extra sets of warm clothing onto the snowmobiles and set off. Jack was on point with the directions they'd been given. He strongly suspected they were a roundabout way, but without a better knowledge of the terrain there was no sure way he could tell. Behind him Sam kept one eye on the path and one on a scanner she'd rigged to her handlebar. It was tuned to pick up the locator beacon if Daniel managed to turn it on.

After their third seemingly pointless adjustment of direction Jack was getting ticked off. There was no question about it anymore – the directions were definitely made to be a delay. He glanced at his odometer. It was supposed to be half a mile to their next turn, and if he hadn't totally lost his sense of direction that would put them back on the exact same course that they'd started with, except that they would have lost a lot of time on a detour. They hit the mark and turned, and Jack led them on for a couple of hundred yards before he stopped.

"I need to take a look at these directions and see if I can figure out a more direct route," he said to Sam's inquiring eyes. She nodded and busied herself with checking her scanner.

* * *

Daniel had been left in the cargo bay together with the researchers. He guessed the ship was flying but it was hard to tell the speed and altitude since the internal dampeners kept the ride so smooth. It wouldn't be easy to know when to trigger the EMP. He figured his best chance would be when they dropped off the researchers, which meant he had to practice some patience.

He spent the first minutes laboriously turning the zip tie around his wrists. Jack had taught him how to get out of them, but the locking mechanism had to be in just the right position. He wanted it ready in case he needed to act quickly later.

Next he turned his attention to the EMP. It was an even more arduous work to open his parka with tied hands. A moment he considered breaking out and then retie himself, but he decided against it. Instead he continued with the contortionism and finally managed to press the arming button on the device. It made a soft hum that disappeared when he reclosed the parka. Now he was ready.

The minutes ticked by slowly. He tried to start up a conversation with the researchers, but they were apparently too scared for chit chat. He chuckled, earning glares from them that said they were beginning to think he was a little crazy. _Maybe I am crazy to have learned chatting as a survival technique. Or I just have too much experience with these kinds of situations._ That made him chuckle again. In lack of conversation he welcomed the distraction of considering his own mental health. At least it kept his thoughts off his unknown but likely dismal future. _And if I do go crazy, maybe whatever Joseph does to me will be less awful._

There was a change in the way the ship moved. He felt it through the floor he was sitting on. The forward motion he hadn't quite been able to feel stopped and they began their descent. The door to the cockpit opened and Skinny came in, followed by Joseph who leaned heavily on Carlton.

"Next stop: The ruins of Adsecta. Four to disembark."

Carlton carefully sat Joseph down on a crate, and then proceeded to get the researchers to their feet while Skinny kept an eye on Daniel. This was it. The one and only chance. The timing would have to be precise. Carlton herded the terrified researchers towards the ring platform, right between Daniel and Skinny. For a moment their lumbering bodies blocked the line of sight. Daniel grasped the opportunity and shifted onto his knees while Skinny yelled at Carlton for his mistake. He lifted his hands above his head and yanked them down hard across his torso. The zip tie broke with a snap at just the same moment that Skinny's eyes regained their target.

Daniel ripped his parka open, his frantic hands competing with Skinny's trying to pull his gun out of his holster. One hand found the EMP and pressed the activation button. The hum of the device rose to a high pitched whine and then the lights in the ship went out. There was a sense of falling interrupted by a sharp stop that threw hostages and kidnappers alike into a pile of arms and legs. In cover of the darkness and confusion Daniel dug up the transmitter and pushed it, praying Sam's shielding had worked, and then shoved it down his pants.


	8. A Dish Served Cold - Chapter 8

Jack was finishing up a calculation most people would have assumed too complicated for him when Sam let out a yelp that sounded a lot like a happy puppy. When Jack looked over at her he decided she looked a lot like one as well.

"Sir! Sir!" She waved at him to come. "The beacon is on!"

He was up and at her side in a blink of an eye with Teal'c not far behind.

"Is it far?"Jack asked, eagerly staring at the little blip on the scanner.

"No, it's just a few klicks south."

"Really? What a coincidence. That's where I think this pirate map of directions leads."

Without further discussion they hopped onto their snowmobiles and headed south at the highest speed they could force out of the little machines.

The ruins came into view like darker shapes against the white snow. It must have been quite a big city once upon a time judging from the hundreds of high spires still reaching into the sky. They slowed down as they drove in between the buildings.

"Carter," Jack called over the sound of the engines. "Tell me that scanner is precise enough to lead us to them."

She nodded emphatically and pointed down a side street. He gestured for her to take the lead.

* * *

Skinny and company regained control of the situation dismayingly fast. Out of the prisoners Daniel was the only one putting up a descent fight, and he too had to give up when Skinny finally managed to draw his gun. The cold metal pressing into his neck froze him mid punch. Without further prompting he released Carlton, who he had been fighting quite successfully.

"Get some flashlights," Skinny ordered.

Carlton shuffled off into the darkness and returned with a giant battery driven torch. The bright light made Daniel squint and, for some reason, notice that he had lost his glasses. Without moving the gun Skinny began to rip is parka off. He let it happen.

The EMP device fell to the floor with a crunch and Skinny stomped on it to make sure it was properly broken. _That's fine_ , Daniel thought and barely tried to hide his smile. _It's done its job already._ Skinny grabbed his arm and wrested him to his feet. He stood wobbly, his legs still held together by a zip tie, but his body didn't dare to fall in case Skinny took it as an attempt to flee.

Keeping his gun trained on Daniel's skull Skinny barked orders to Carlton.

"Get the researchers outside. And get into the engine room and get this boat back in the air. And by the way, where's Benton?"

"I'm here." Joseph's voice was strong and Carlton's torch found him still sitting on his crate, looking almost rudely comfortable.

"What should we do about Dr. Jackson?" Skinny asked. Joseph made a face halfway between a smile and a snarl.

"Put him in a chair and strap him down. And fetch me my tools."

Daniel's heart skipped beat. His stomach curled up into an agonizing knot. All of a sudden he didn't care that here was a gun pointed at the back of his skull. He whirled around, fear giving him speed and strength enough to knock the gun out of Skinny's hand. Unfortunately the speed also tipped him off balance and he went down like a falling tree. Loosing no time Skinny pounced and pinned him down.

"Where's that chair?"

Carlton appeared from somewhere with a cheap looking office chair. Skinny yanked Daniel up by his neck and pushed him into the seat. With help from Carlton he wrapped his arms with a superfluous amount of zip ties. The feeling of being immobilized was hauntingly familiar and it made Daniel's skin crawl.

Panic grabbed at his heart again as Joseph got to his feet and approached him. Carlton handed him a black doctor's bag and he picked out a small bottle and a syringe.

"I was going to wait until I got better," he said conversationally, "but never mind. I think you've earned an early start."

He inserted the needle in a vessel in Daniel's arm and depressed the plunger. The drug coursed into his veins like liquid fire. The pain made Daniel cringe and Joseph grinned.

"Think of it this way – at least you get to find out what I did to you last time. And this time you won't forget."

* * *

The cargo ship had dropped down in a park-like area among a group of lower buildings. Jack, Sam and Teal'c parked their snowmobiles just out of sight and continued on foot. It wasn't hard to approach without being seen; a tel'tak has a very wide blind spot when it's powered down.

Coming up on the door they spotted a huddle of shapes in the snow. It was the researchers, clinging to each other to try and retain some heat. Cursing the lost time it caused them, they rounded them up and led them back to the snowmobiles to put on warm clothing. Assured the researchers wouldn't be freezing to death they hurried back to the ship and the tricky task of breaking in.

Sam fiddled with the lock for ten agonizingly long minutes before Jack pushed her aside and slapped a block of C4 on the door. He waved for the others to take cover and unceremoniously detonated it. The cloud of fire had barely dissipated before they charged inside.

They found the cockpit empty and the door to the cargo bay locked. Sam set to work on the controls, after Jack made a face that said he knew it was too close quarters for explosives. This kind of door control panel she had more experience with and it didn't take her long to crack it.

When the door slid open Jack rushed in with his gun lifted, Sam and Teal'c on his heels. His well trained eyes took in the scene in a fraction of a second. Daniel was in the center of the ring platform, tied to an office chair. His head hung as if he was unconscious, but the tension in his body told Jack he wasn't. The so called doctor Benton stood bent over him with a syringe in his hand.

"Drop it!"

The doctor spun around. He made a grimace of pain and Jack guessed the quick movement had pulled at his belly wound. He didn't feel sorry for him. Seeing the three weapons trained on him Benton did as ordered and let the needle fall. It hit the floor and shattered, spreading its content in a tiny puddle.

"You okay, Daniel?"

A moan came from the chair but Daniel didn't lift his head. Trusting Sam and Teal'c had the doctor covered Jack hurried forward and knelt down in front of him.

"Daniel? Can you hear me?"

At this Daniel yanked his head up and glared at him.

"Yes, Jack," he ground out between clenched teeth. "Now get me loose so I can strangle _him_." His knife-like gaze shifted to Benton, and in accordance with the proverb releasing him might prove not to be necessary.

Jack pulled out his knife and started cutting away the zip ties.

"Calm down, Daniel," he said. "Calm down before you do something you'll regret later."

As soon as he was free Daniel popped to his feet as if he'd been sitting on springs. He walked around the room with jerky stiff motions, shooting continuous glares in the doctor's direction. However, he didn't make any move to act on his earlier threat. Jack got to his feet and pointed his gun on the doctor.

"Carter, Teal'c, search the rest of the ship for his pals. Daniel and I can handle this one."

"Yes, sir," Sam replied and she and Teal'c disappeared through the back door. Jack glanced at Daniel. He had stopped pacing and now he was shaking his limbs as if he was trying to get something out of them. When he saw Jack's quizzical look he flashed him a crooked smile.

"I'll be fine. He gave me some of that pain drug of his, but it'll subside. Thanks by the way, for the timely rescue. He was about to give me a shot of amphetamine next."

Jack stared at him, and for just a moment he forgot about Benton. It was one moment too long. The doctor launched himself at him with a growl and wringed the gun from his hands. They tumbled on the floor, struggling for control of the firearm. Benton was stronger than Jack had expected from a man with a serious stomach wound. _Figures. Wouldn't surprise me if he has more training in combat than medicine._ Jack managed to push him away, but lost grip of the gun. Victoriously the doctor pointed it at him, his finger squeezing the trigger. A loud bang sounded in the cargo bay, reverberating off the walls in the enclosed space.

Jack's body went numb. The room got fuzzy, and there was a painful ringing in his ears. He looked down, expecting to see a blotch of red blooming on his chest. Confusion swirled up inside him. His parka was still pristinely monochrome.

In front of him a heavy object fell with a clang. He blinked hard and when his foggy vision cleared he saw his P90 on the floor and the doctor slumping to his knees. There was a flower of blood on his chest and he clutched at it with quickly weakening hands. His eyes seemed fixed on a point next to Jack's right ear. He turned his head and saw Daniel with a gun in his hand. There was a bittersweet expression on his face.

Slowly Daniel's hand fell to his side, in perfect synchronization with the doctor tipping over on the floor. Jack reached out and took the gun from his limp fingers. He flicked on the safety and placed it down on the floor. The numbness he had felt before was passing, and his hearing was coming back. He struggled to his feet and stepped into Daniel's sightline to the dying doctor. A halfhearted smile played along on Daniel's lips.

"I guess I've got my revenge now," he said in a strangled voice.

Jack nodded slowly.

"Feel better?"

"No. Not really."

"Good."

Daniel raised his eyebrows.

"Good?"

"Yeah. If you, of all people, felt good about killing someone I'd think there was something seriously wrong with you. But since you seem to be feeling shitty about it, I know there's nothing to worry about."

He grinned brightly and – he hoped – infectiously. Daniel stared at him. Then the corner of his mouth twitched and a genuine smile lit up his face.

"Thanks, Jack."

* * *

 **The End**


End file.
